Robinson Crusoe Island

History

Juan Fernández islands is one of the most recondite and beautiful places in the World,
(Spanish: Archipiélago Juan Fernández) are a sparsely inhabited island group reliant on tourism and fishing in the South Pacific Ocean.
Located 800 nautical miles from Valparaíso, they are composed of three main volcanic islands:
Robinson Crusoe, Alejandro Selkirk and Santa Clara. The group is considered part of Insular Chile.

ALEXANDER SELKIRK.
The islands are primarily known for having been the home to the marooned sailor Alexander Selkirk (Scottish) for more than four years from 1704, which may have inspired Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe. Most of the archipelago's present-day inhabitants reside on Robinson Crusoe Island, and mainly in the capital, San Juan Bautista, located at Cumberland Bay on the island's north coast.
The group of islands is part of Chile's Valparaíso Region (which also includes Easter Island) and, along with the Desventuradas Islands, forms one of the nine communes of Valparaíso Province. The islands are named after Juan Fernandez, the explorer who discovered them in the 1570s.

FIRST WORLD WAR.
The SMS Dresden was a light cruiser (Kleiner Kreuzer in German) of the German Kaiserliche Marine, launched in 1906, of 118 m in length and three chimneys, armed with 10 guns of 105 mm, and the first German cruiser equipped with Parsons type turbines and four tetrapales naval helices, which allowed him to reach 28 knots, four more than his twin, the SMS Emden, with which he was a class.

He had an outstanding participation in the evacuation of Germans based in the port of Veracruz in Mexico at the beginning of 1914, taking among his officers the lieutenant of ship Wilhelm Canaris, and during those days of siege the deported dictator Victoriano Huerta. Pancho Villa made an offer to the German government to buy this cruise and others. After the transfer was completed, he was relieved by the cruise Nürnberg and left for Germany.
With its alarmingly low coal reserves, the cruise ship sought supplies on March 2 in the Chilean port, in Cumberland Bay, in what was then called Isla de Más Afuera, current Juan Fernández Archipelago. The idea of Lüdecke (Captain) was to supply the ship to definitely embark on sailing to Oceania to meet its twin SMS Emden.
The Chilean government only offered 72 hours of repair with their own means or hospitalization. Being in these proceedings, a British force composed of the cruisers HMS Kent, HMS Orama and HMS Glasgow surprised him at anchor, on March 14, 1915. Lüdecke, unable to escape or face, and trying to buy time to prepare the ship for his He sent the flag of parliament up, and sent Officer Canaris to HMS Glasgow to parley, but the British ignored it and began firing.1 The Dresden fired some shots, but a stern battery was hit by seven crewmembers. Captain Lüdecke ordered the crew to disembark and prepare the sinking of his ship: Some members of the crew exploded the bow magazine and opened the valves in the background, then swam to reach the shore while the imperial cruiser began to sink.
The most serious injuries were attended by the British themselves and transferred to Valparaíso in the Orama transport. Later the Chilean cruise ship Esmeralda showed up and transferred the remaining sailors to Concepcion.

The crew was interned on Quiriquina Island (Talcahuano, Chile) for the rest of the war. Only three members escaped, among them the lieutenant of ship Wilhelm Canaris, future head of the Abwehr in the Nazi period. The rest decided to join the German community living in Chile.

How to get there.

> Charter:
There are 3 airlines that make weekly flights from Santiago, the flight lasts 2.15hrs and there is capacity from 7 to 9 passengers (depending on availability of the airline).

Sebastián recorded the landing from the Charter (flight from Santiago).

> Sailboat:
Personalized service, a unique journey for the most adventurous!

Rodrigo and Marianne sailed 5 days from Puerto Montt, 700 miles!

> Ship:
The NM Antonio embarks twice a month from Valparaíso to Juan Fernandez, the trip is between 40-45 hours on the high seas (800 nautical miles).
Capacity: 12 passengers.
Reservations: At least 1 month in advance.

Sebastián leaves the island after 9 months.

Isla Pacifico Eco Lodge.

Isla Pacifico Eco Lodge, is a lodge located in Juan Bautista town, just steps from the Pier.
We are the first to do tourism in Robinson Crusoe Island since 1962.
Our Lodge has 4 rooms with private bathroom, king size bed or 2 twin beds with terrace. Living and dining room overlooking the sea and a common terrace of 80 m2 plus a barbecue of 40 m2.
All this only for 8 passengers, which allows a 100% personal attention by its owners